High temperature molten salt batteries have been demonstrated as power sources for electric vehicle propulsion and suggested for load leveling in electric power plants. Their high rate capabilities (A/cm.sup.2), rapid rechargeability, and high energy densities (&gt;300Wh/kg) have been achieved through the use of highly conducting molten salt electrolytes. These salts are solid at ambient conditions and must be melted at temperatures above 300.degree. C. to attain the highly conductive liquid phase. The most studied cells have been the lithium-metal-sulfides. Specifically, lithium-aluminum (20 weight percent Li) used as the anode, iron sulfides (FeS.sub.2 or FeS) as the cathode and a eutectic mixture of LiCl-KCl as the electrolyte. Generally, magnesium oxide or boron nitride powders have been mixed with the electrolyte to provide rigid separation between the anode and cathode electrodes once the electrolyte is molten. Various electrode materials including metals, metal oxides, alloys and metal sulfides have been suggested for molten salt batteries. In addition, many salts and mixed salt eutectics have been studied in these cells. The development of practical molten salt batteries has been limited to parallel plate construction that uses individual current collector buses for each electrode. The respective positive and negative buses are then connected together to provide the desired battery voltage. Such a design although providing high energy densities does not lend itself to high rate--high power applications.